...there are of course those rare few who have learned to flush their powers with great amounts of shadow, twisting them far beyond those of the average shadow manipulator....

”

—taken from the Codex Opacare, a treatise on shadow magic

While most shadowcasters are concerned about broadening their knowledge of the various paths of shadow magic, there are a few who desire complete and utter mastery of a small handful of those paths. Midnight paragons, as these shadowcasters are called, are often compared to archmages, since they represent a similar specialization of magic.

Mysteries: At every level, you gain new mysteries and an increase in caster level as if you had also attained a level in a shadowcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.

Secrets of the Greater Paths: A midnight paragon is known for his studies in the deeper, darker sides of shadow magic, teaching him to enhance certain paths greatly. At every level, the midnight paragon may choose an ability from the list below and apply it to a path that he has taken the Path Focus feat for. Each ability may be taken multiple times, but each time it must be applied to a different path, unless otherwise noted.

Secret of Night: When a midnight paragon chooses this option, his caster level for all the mysteries in the chosen path increases by +2.

Secret of Everlasting Shadow: When a midnight paragon chooses this option, the duration (if it does not have a fixed duration, such as instantaneous) for all the mysteries in the chosen path increases by a number of rounds or minutes equal to his Charisma modifier.

Secret of Destructive Dark: When a midnight paragon chooses this option, the hit point or nonlethal damage dealt by all the mysteries in the chosen path increases by a number of points equal to his Charisma modifier.

Secret of Pervasive Shadow: When a midnight paragon chooses this option, all of the mysteries in in the chosen path change from being a spell to a spell-like ability or a spell-like ability to a supernatural ability; however, this does not grant them additional uses per day.

Secret of Recurring Darkness: When a midnight paragon chooses this option, his uses per day of all the mysteries in the chosen path double. If, as the midnight paragon gains more levels in a shadowcasting class, he gains additional uses per day of these mysteries, that number is instead doubled.

Secret of Shadow Sculpting: When a midnight paragon chooses this option, he may, once per day for each mystery, alter the range of all mysteries in the chosen paths up or down one step, as noted on the table. The midnight paragon may take this multiple times for the same path, each time gaining an additional use per day per mystery.

Combat: Your tactics in combat largely depend on the paths you specialize in, for example: a paragon who has focused mainly on the Ebon Walls path is likely to spend much of his time entrapping his foes, whereas an Elemental Shadows-specialist would be more inclined to create hordes of animated objects or to blast the hell out of his foes with offensive magic.

Advancement: Consider taking feats that improve your chosen paths, such as Greater Path Focus, Nocturnal Caster, or Path Mastery [1]. Items such as Orbs of Shadows can also come in handy for gaining additional uses of your path.

Resources: Most midnight paragons see others of their kind just as other mystery-users, unless of course they happen to specialize in the same paths, in which case they might become bitter enemies. Among the Nightshade Covenant, there is a well-known tale about the drow Elis Makaan and the shadow lich Islithros, two midnight paragons of the Heart and Soul path who fought an internal war that lasted nearly two centuries before a party of assassins destroyed them both.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) can research midnight paragons to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.